Tyler Locke
|Gender = Male |Hair = Brown |Eyes = Green |Profession = Student |Status = Alive |Cause = |Family = Kinsey Locke (sister) Bode Locke (brother) Nina Locke (mother) Rendell Locke (father, deceased) Duncan Locke (paternal uncle) }} Tyler Locke is the son of Rendell and Nina Locke. He is also the brother of Kinsey and Bode Locke, and the nephew of Duncan Locke. After witnessing the murder of his father at the hands of Sam Lesser and Al Grubb, Tyler Locke moves with his family to the Keyhouse. History Tyler grew up in California with his family. As a teenager, his friends often teased him, calling him "The Guidance Counselor" whenever he was apprehensive about doing something, as his father was the guidance counselor at his school. When Kinsey was fourteen, she made Tyler take her to a football party. One of Tyler's teammates was drunk, and later drove, getting into an accident with Kinsey as his passenger. Tyler was punished by his father, who cancelled Tyler's summer plans to spend six weeks in Baja. Tyler stormed out of his father's office, and was approached by Sam Lesser, who introduced himself before complaining about his own father. Tyler's reply would later haunt him: "you ever decide to kill your dad, do me a favor and kill mine while you're at it." The Lockes were spending their summer in Willits when Sam and Al Grubb attacked them. Rendell was killed by Sam, and Nina was raped by Al. Tyler managed to beat Sam with a brick, incapacitating him, and Nina killed Al with a hatchet. Welcome to Lovecraft After his father's funeral, Tyler recalled a drunken conversation between his parents about how if anything were to happen to Rendell, that the family would move to his childhood home, Keyhouse, with his younger brother, Duncan Locke. Tyler was approached by his uncle, and broke down crying, eager to get away from San Francisco. After Bode Locke found the Ghost Key and tried to share it with his siblings, Tyler ignored him. When Bode heard an echo coming from the Wellhouse, Tyler dismissed it as Bode's imagination. When Sam Lesser escaped the detention facility with the assistance of Dodge, Nina bought a gun, and showed Tyler where it was in case of an emergency. Sam soon arrived at Keyhouse in search of the Anywhere Key and the Omega Key. He locked Duncan and Nina in the wine cellar, beat Kinsey unconscious and pushed Tyler down some stairs before hitting him with a piece of wood. Tyler pretended to know where the keys were, and led Sam to his mother's bedroom, where the gun was. However, Sam caught Tyler looking for the gun, and forced Tyler away from the drawer so he could retrieve the gun. Tyler manages to escape and run away, but Sam overpowers him and fights him through the Ghost door, and Tyler's spirit leaves his body. Returning to his body that Sam had dragged to the cellar with Kinsey, Tyler managed to surprise and overpower him. Kinsey took Sam's gun and fired, grazing his neck and shooting him through the leg. Sam escaped upstairs, but was seemingly betrayed by Dodge, who snapped his neck and threw him through the Ghost Door. Sam was declared dead, though his ghost remained in Keyhouse. Tyler remained uneasy about his experiences as a ghost, and attempted to rationalize it by explaining to himself that he passed out when Sam was choking him, and that he imagined the rest. Two weeks later, Tyler was approached by Zack Wells, the most recent alias of Dodge, who had taken possession of the Anywhere Key, Gender Key, and Echo Key. Zack claimed to be another new student to Lovecraft Academy that was living with Kinsey's running coach, Ellie Whedon. Head Games After Professor Joe Ridgeway's apparent suicide, the students of Lovecraft Academy were given the day off. Tyler went to the beach to console Kinsey, who had taken a liking to the teacher. While he was there, he met Jordan Gates, and was immediately attracted to her. He also met Brinker Martin, who invited him to join the school's hockey team. When Bode figured out how to use the Head Key, he demonstrated it to Tyler and Kinsey, to their initial horror. After experimenting with the Head Key, Tyler confessed his experiences with the Ghost Key to Kinsey. He used the Head Key to learn the content of a textbook, in order to get caught up in his schoolwork. At school, when his friends and teacher were impressed that he finished his readings so quickly, Tyler offered to show Jordan and Zack Wells his "trick". Kinsey was angry that Tyler had invited people over to show the Head Key to without consulting her first. When Tyler opened up his head, Jordan ran away, terrified. She yelled at Tyler to stay away from her. Kinsey then enlisted Tyler's help in removing her fear and her ability to cry. Tyler was hesitant, but complied, putting Kinsey's tears and fears in a bottle. Crown of Shadows Tyler was woken up by Nina, who told him that Duncan and Brian had been attacked, and that Brian was in the hospital. Tyler offered to watch Kinsey and Bode while Nina went to Provincetown to see Brian and Duncan. Tyler approached Jordan Gates, apologizing for "playing her", claiming the Head Key was just a magic trick. SInce Tyler had a "free pass all semester," he gave her his ethics paper, as she was struggling with hers. Grateful, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Bode, frustrated that Tyler and Kinsey took the Head Key from him, stole Tyler's hat. While Tyler was chasing him, Bode found the Giant Key, causing Tyler to remark "kid, you got to stop finding, like, keys and stuff." Bode replied that he doesn't find them, they find him. That night, after Nina left, Tyler put Bode to bed, not realizing Zack Wells had entered the house, and had found the Shadow Key. Using the Shadow Key, Zack brought all the shadows to life in search of the Omega Key. Tyler was attacked and quickly overrun by the shadows. Zack covered himself in shadows, disguising himself as the Dark Lady from the well. He captured and interrogated Tyler on the location of the Echo Key and Omega Keys. Meanwhile, Kinsey and Bode fought off their own shadows, infuriating Zack. Zack called all the shadows to him, taking the form of a giant wolf-like creature, in turn freeing Tyler. As the shadow monster chased Kinsey and Bode, Tyler used the Giant Key to make himself big enough to fight it. Tyler was able to best the shadows, saving his siblings. When Nina returned home and saw the state of the house, he pretended that he and Kinsey had a party. At school, he was approached by Jordan, who was angry that the paper he gave her received a failing grade. After a drunken Nina discovered the Mending Cabinet, she attempted to use it to "fix" Rendell Locke. When it didn't work, she started hitting the cabinet, and after a struggle with Tyler, Rendell's urn was shattered.w Later, when Tyler was cleaning up, he discovered the Omega Key in his father's ashes. Keys to the Kingdom Tyler and Kinsey were attacked by pack of wolves, led by Dodge, who had used the Animal Key. They were saved by Bode, who had become a sparrow (also by using the Animal Key), and led a swarm of other sparrows against the attackers. Tyler and Kinsey comforted Bode after many of the birds died. While passing McLellan Psychiatric Hospital, Erin Voss mistook Tyler and Zack Wells for Rendell Locke and Lucas Caravaggio. Kinsey wanted to ask Erin some questions, but Tyler wasn't interested, saying he wanted to live a normal life. Kinsey eventually found a way to speak to Erin, and learned that Dodge was a person. Over the next several weeks, the Lockes were attacked by Dodge several times, and defended themselves with new keys, including the Angel Key and The Hercules Key. Tyler grew closer to Jordan Gates, nearly telling her that he loved her. She stopped him, and soon slept with Brinker Martin to drive Tyler away. After Brian Rogan woke up from his coma, he told Tyler the description of his attacker. Tyler began to think that Zack was really Dodge. He became more suspicious with Zack's insistence that Tyler share the location of the Omega Key, which Tyler had hidden in his own head. Looking at the dates of the attacks by Dodge over the past few weeks, Tyler realized they were all on weekends when Zack was allegedly in Boston. When the Lockes went to Zack's fencing tournament, Tyler left early, taking Bode to Zack's house under the pretense of returning one of Rufus Whedon's toys. Tyler went through Zack's things and found a jar of memories proving Zack was really Dodge. Dodge arrived using the Anywhere Key, and incapacitated Tyler using the Music Box Key. Frozen still, Tyler was unable to stop Dodge from injuring Daniel Mutuku, killing Ellie Whedon, or taking Bode hostage. Dodge took Bode to Keyhouse, and used the Ghost Key to switch bodies: Dodge's spirit went into Bode's body, Sam Lesser's went into Zack's body, and Bode was trapped as a ghost. Kinsey returned to Keyhouse and killed Sam, believing it to be Dodge. Tyler comforted Dodge, unaware his brother was not who he seemed to be. Clockworks Dodge, inhabiting the body of Bode Locke, pushed Jason Bird in front of a bus, killing him. Tyler attempted to console his brother, while Kinsey continued to regret her decision to remove her fear and ability to cry. Dodge continued to search Keyhouse for the Omega Key, eventually finding Kinsey's fears and tears in the bottle, seemingly drowned. He was startled by Nina, dropping and shattering the bottle. Kinsey's fears and tears escaped to Tyler's room, and entered his head. They, and Tyler's other, darker personality traits, overthrew the part of Tyler that kept himself in check, allowing his darker side to take over. Tyler began to become overwhelmed by Kinsey's emotions, culminating in an attempt to burn down Keyhouse. Kinsey, using the Angel Key, subdued Tyler, then used the Head Key to figure out what happened to him. In Tyler's head, she also found the Omega Key, as well as her fears and tears. She ultimately decided to put them back in her own head, where they belonged. Kinsey, her mind whole again, cried in her brother's arms. When Tyler was attempting to burn down Keyhouse, he knocked over a grandfather clock. As he and Kinsey were cleaning up, they found the Timeshift Key next to it. Tyler and Kinsey used the Timeshift Key, witnessing the execution of Benjamin and Miranda Locke's parents in 1775, the first contact with the Black Door and the Whispering Iron, and the forging of the Omega Key. They then use the key to view 1988, the year Rendell Locke and his friends used the keys in their school play. Tyler and Kinsey learn of their father's plan to open the Black Door to allow a demon through that would turn to Whispering Iron. Rendell planned to create a new key that would allow him and his friends to carry magic with them even after they grew up. The plan failed, however, when Lucas Caravaggio became infected with the demon known as Dodge. Dodge was stripped of his memories in an attempt to pacify him, but he was inadvertently restored by Ellie Whedon. Rendell and Ellie eventually beat Dodge, but Mark Cho and Kim Topher were killed, and Erin Voss's memories were removed and scattered throughout the Drowning Cave. At Keyhouse, Rendell threw the Head Key into the pond, and he and Ellie said their goodbyes. Rendell admits he took some of the Whispering Iron from the cave, and attempted to melt it down, but only managed to make a hook, though he didn't trust himself with anymore keys. Tyler and Kinsey returned to the present, and silently walked to their rooms. As Kinsey cried looking at a photo of her father, Tyler stared at the fishing lure on his hat that his father gave him, realizing it could be made of Whispering Iron. Omega Tyler shot an interview for Scot Kavanaugh's graduation film, documenting the students' regrets over the years. Tyler told the story of how he brought Kinsey to a party when she was younger, and she later got into a car accident because Tyler's friend drove drunk. He explained that his father was furious, and that the two still weren't talking when Rendell was killed. Scot stopped taping partway-through the story, saying it did not need to be in the film. Scot and Duncan Locke both offered Tyler support and encouragement, but he still held onto his guilt. Tyler then asked Duncan to resume his lesson on how to melt iron. Bode Locke's ghost was eventually able to warn Rufus Whedon that Bode's body was inhabited by Dodge. Rufus attacked Dodge, choking him. Tyler heard Kinsey's scream, and, still unaware that Dodge controlled Bode, hit Rufus with a wrench to stop him. Rufus was then taken to McLellen Psychiatric Hospital. On prom night, Tyler planned to stay home. Tyler was helping Duncan work on his car, when Duncan suggested that Tyler go enjoy himself. Tyler shrugged the idea off, as he didn't have a suit, but Duncan gave him a tuxedo t-shirt that he picked up earlier. Tyler accepted, and headed into town. He found Jordan Gates at the statue of Adam Crais, as she prepared to burn her dress. Jordan was upset that her father had applied to Vasser for her, while she wanted to go attend the Art Institute of Chicago. She took off her dress, and told Tyler to take his t-shirt off. She revealed to him that she only slept with Brinker Martin because Tyler was falling for her, and "falling in love in high school is like thinking you can fly a 747 because you know how to fly a kite." The two reconcile, and have sex. Afterwards, they agree to meet at the party in the Drowning Cave, as Tyler needed to get changed first. They share a hug before going their separate ways. This would be the last time Tyler saw Jordan, however, as she died as a result of Dodge's attack of the party. Returning home, Tyler was attacked in the garage by shadows controlled by Dodge. He was saved by Duncan, who pulled him into the car's trunk. Tyler found flares in a roadside emergency kit and used them to drive the shadows back. Looking down the driveway, Tyler saw Daniel Mutuku and his partner arriving. Tyler rushed to save them, but Mutuku's partner panicked and fired at one of the shadows, hitting Tyler in the stomach. Duncan arrived and used several flashlights to keep the shadows back. Daniel carried Tyler to Keyhouse, where Nina Locke, drunk after Dodge forced her to, remembered the Mending Key. After they placed him in the Mending Cabinet, Tyler found himself in a black space, where he was greeted by his father. Tyler berated Rendell for the decisions he made that had affected his children. Rendell admits that he thought of a way that might have saved Lucas Caravaggio from Dodge, telling Tyler that "keys turn both ways", and that "you can and can't save someone who has been infected". Nina opened the Mending Cabinet, and Tyler, fully healed, stepped out. Alpha As Keyhouse was attacked by shadows, Tyler ran to the foundry, inspired by his discussion with his father about how to fight Dodge. While Duncan held the shadows back, Tyler created the Alpha Key. He used the back entrance into the Drowning Cave previously shown to him by Ellie Whedon through the Timeshift Key. In the cave, he is ambushed by Dodge, as well as the possessed Scot Kavanaugh, Jackie Veda, Brinker Martin, and two girls. While Dodge threatened to empty Kinsey Locke's mind using the Head Key, he was surprised by the memories of Erin Voss, who took the Shadow Crown from him, disarming him. Tyler used the Alpha Key on Scot, unlocking the demon from his soul, but effectively killing him as it began to turn to Whispering Iron inside Scot's body, though Scot remained standing from the Hercules Key. Tyler followed Dodge, still in Bode's body, up the way he came. At the top of the ladder, Dodge threw a rock at Tyler, injuring him. Dodge was then grabbed by Rufus Whedon, who carried him to the Wellhouse, and using the Echo Key, forced him through the door, forcing him to disappear. Tyler mourned with his family over the bodies of Bode, Scot, and Jackie, while Keyhouse burned behind them. Trivia *Tyler had more appearances than any other main character, appearing in 34 of 37 issues in the main series. He only absent in Head Games #6, Clockworks #4, and Clockworks #5. Info * Appearances by Tyler Locke. * Images featuring Tyler Locke. *Gallery: Tyler Locke References Category:Characters Category:Lovecraft Academy Students Category:Locke Family Category:Male Characters Category:Brown Hair Category:Green Eyes